SuEllenSP

The Jekyll Revelation

By:
Robert Masello

Narrated by:
Christopher Lane

Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
2,613

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,404

Story

4 out of 5 stars
2,403

While on routine patrol in the tinder-dry Topanga Canyon, environmental scientist Rafael Salazar expects to find animal poachers, not a dilapidated antique steamer trunk. Inside the peculiar case, he discovers a journal, written by the renowned Robert Louis Stevenson, which divulges ominous particulars about his creation of
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It also promises to reveal a terrible secret - the identity of Jack the Ripper.

pleasantly surprised

Disappointing

Overall

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-10-19

I was surprised to find myself struggling to finish this book. The plot intrigued me, but somehow it fell flat in the execution.Other than RLS most of the characters did not hold my interest. There was too much of everything-characters, plot twists. The constant switching between time periods went from intriguing to tedious. As someone who, with rare exceptions, always finishes a book once I've begun it, I found myself wishing it would end and even considered abandoning it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

People Who Eat Darkness

The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo - and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up

By:
Richard Lloyd Parry

Narrated by:
Simon Vance

Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
4

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
3

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
3

Lucie Blackman - tall, blond, 21 years old - stepped out into the vastness of Tokyo in the summer of 2000 and disappeared. The following winter, her dismembered remains were found buried in a seaside cave. The seven months in between had seen a massive search for the missing girl involving Japanese policemen, British private detectives, and Lucie’s desperate but bitterly divided parents. Had Lucie been abducted by a religious cult or snatched by human traffickers? Who was the mysterious man she had gone to meet? And what did her work as a hostess in the notorious Roppongi district of Tokyo really involve?

5 out of 5 stars

Impressive detailed account

By
SuEllenSP
on
02-25-19

People Who Eat Darkness

The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo - and the Evil That Swallowed Her Up

Impressive detailed account

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-25-19

I felt I learned a great deal from this. The crime at the heart of the story is sad but in many ways not unique. The circumstances and people surrounding it are fascinating. The social and police culture in Japan are so foreign in many ways, it was enlightening to hear about them. The authors writing about the impact of the crime on individuals really expands your knowledge of human nature. Of course the narration was pitch perfect.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Wind in the Willows (AmazonClassics Edition)

By:
Kenneth Grahame

Narrated by:
Simon Vance

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
76

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
69

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
69

Mole, Rat, and Badger are Toad's dearest friends even as the aristocratic amphibian's wastrel ways get him into trouble. After being arrested and sentenced to jail, he returns to his ancestral home of Toad Hall to find it overrun with stoats and weasels from the Wild Wood. But his friends haven't abandoned him yet. In fact, they've conspired to help drive the villainous vermin from his home.

Great Classic

I've listened to this more than once. It's appeal just can't be outgrown.

The Eyre Affair

A Thursday Next Novel

By:
Jasper Fforde

Narrated by:
Susan Duerden

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
2,107

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,667

Story

4 out of 5 stars
1,669

In Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection.

5 out of 5 stars

six stars

Indescribably Delicious

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-22-18

I can't come up with any review suitable for this book. I loved it. Describe it? Witty, whimsical, imaginative yet at the same time real characters, real feelings and a stunning story line.Add to that a fine reading. For me this is an all around winner.

Something Fresh

By:
P. G. Wodehouse

Narrated by:
Frederick Davidson

Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
143

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
84

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
84

As Wodehouse himself once noted, "Blandings has impostors like other houses have mice." On this particular occasion, there are two imposters, both intent on a dangerous enterprise. Lord Emsworth's secretary, the Efficient Baxter, is on the alert and determined to discover what is afoot - despite the distractions caused by the Honorable Freddie Threepwood's hapless affair of the heart.

Not terrible - but not a must-have, either

Great Intro

This was a great introduction to the Blandings world of P.G. Wodehouse. Looking forward to more.

Crocodile on the Sandbank

The Amelia Peabody Series, Book 1

By:
Elizabeth Peters

Narrated by:
Barbara Rosenblat

Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
5,011

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,651

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,640

Amelia Peabody inherited two things from her father: a considerable fortune and an unbendable will. The first allowed her to indulge in her life's passion. Without the second, the mummy's curse would have made corpses of them all.

5 out of 5 stars

Nice break from the usual-

The Best

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-07-18

I have read or listened to several Amelia Peabody mysteries and thoroughly enjoyed them all. But I must say that this first in the series is absolutely the best so far. The plot is great but it's the characters and their interactions that put this at the top. I think it may be my disinterest in romance stories that makes Peabody and Emerson so appealing. Their rough romance road and conflicting personalities distills all the 'ewe and yuck' out. Amelia Peabody is my ideal. Already looking forward to my next Amelia Peabody listen.A 1000 kudos to Barbara Rosenblat for her phenomenal narrations.

Savage Harvest

A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art

By:
Carl Hoffman

Narrated by:
Joe Barrett

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
223

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
194

Story

4 out of 5 stars
194

The mysterious disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in remote New Guinea in 1961 has kept the world, and even Michael's powerful, influential family, guessing for years. Now, Carl Hoffman uncovers startling new evidence that finally tells the full, astonishing story.

4 out of 5 stars

'Safe Return Doubtful'

By
Mel
on
03-30-14

Savage Harvest

A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller's Tragic Quest for Primitive Art

A book of humanity

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-14-18

Being old enough to remember the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, that mystery was a great draw to pull me into this book. However it is the author's delving into the culture of this remote, complex and strange (at least to me) segment of this world's humanity that truly gripped me. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to expand their understanding of our deepest roots.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Plague Pits & River Bones

The Detective Lavender Mysteries, Book 4

By:
Karen Charlton

Narrated by:
Michael Page

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
519

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
458

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
456

London, 1812: Treacherous gangs roam the capital, and not even the Palace of Westminster is safe. When Detective Stephen Lavender is called in to investigate a highway robbery and a cold-blooded murder, both the cases take a dangerous and disturbing personal twist.

No One Is Smiling on Bowstreet Station

Another appealing historical mystery

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-28-18

Having read several in this series, I continue to enjoy the continuing characters as usual invigorated by the entrance of the current story's key players in this mystery. With more than one mystery in the book it creates a real sense of the richness and complexity of the time. I also appreciate the degree to which the author has used the bones of history to support her story. The afterward explaining these connections is very helpful, especially if you have any interest in pursuing any of the historical content.

The Sans Pareil Mystery

The Detective Lavender Mysteries, Book 2

By:
Karen Charlton

Narrated by:
Michael Page

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,071

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
946

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
944

On a cold February night in Regency London, a dark curtain falls on the Sans Pareil Theatre following the death of April Clare, a promising young actress, whose body is found in mysterious circumstances. Detective Stephen Lavender and his dependable deputy, Constable Woods, quickly discover that nothing is quite as it seems. As successive mysteries unfold, they soon realise that it is not only the actors from the Sans Pareil who are playing a part.

Good mystery with excellent narrator.

Just as good as the first.

Interesting characters and mystery but the period details and characters are what really make this book a pleasure.A great read for fans of period fiction.

The Golem and the Jinni

A Novel

By:
Helene Wecker

Narrated by:
George Guidall

Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
14,732

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
13,665

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
13,642

Helene Wecker's dazzling debut novel tells the story of two supernatural creatures who appear mysteriously in 1899 New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York Harbor. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.